So, you’ve responded to a healthcare jobs listing, you’ve met the qualifications, and have now been invited for an interview. You still have some way to go before you secure the healthcare position which you have been working towards for some time, but you nearly have it. Or have you?
One particularly important thing to remember here is that something that could stop you taking up the job might be as simple as realizing it’s not for you. Even if you pass the interview, there’s a danger of taking up a job that ultimately lets you down and sees you leaving within a few months.
This is worth pointing out precisely because it is a quite common situation today. The U.S. healthcare jobs market is currently saturated with vacancies and lacking the right talent to fill them. This has led to many desperate healthcare institutions trying to snap up any talent by lowering standards and accepting candidates more readily.
This isn’t good for anybody. It is not good for the institution because it leads to talent churn and a lack of cohesive healthcare teams that have gelled after working together for long enough. It is not good for candidates because it leads to job dissatisfaction and sees them back on the hunt for a job before long. Most importantly though, it’s not good for patients because it leads to compromised healthcare.
One of the ways you can stop this happening to you is by asking the correct questions during the interview.
The Importance of Asking the Right Questions
We have just set out the reasons for being discerning as a candidate and a healthcare recruiter alike. And one of the ways you can do that is by finding out as much about the role as you can. You should do this by asking the right questions when you find yourself in the interview. The reason for this is that you cannot be 100% sure that the healthcare institution will tell you everything you need to know.
Health Jobs Nationwide, an online healthcare recruiter that specializes in physician jobs, also note that you will not be able to get all of this from job postings. You can assess the quality of a job posting by noting how much information it gives you, but even then it is unlikely to tell you everything about the role. You need to ask questions.
Questions to Ask
So, what should those questions be? Here follows three of the most important:
Can You Tell Me More About the Daily Responsibilities?
You cannot really know what a role is like unless you know about the quotidian realities of the role, the day-in, day-out aspect. A potential employer should be able to tell you what a typical day looks like.
Where Does This Institution See Itself in Five Years?
U.S. healthcare is, for better or worse, often a business enterprise so you need to know that it’s headed in the right direction. As anybody with any business sense knows, a company needs to constantly move forward. Success for them is ultimately success for you.
What Do You Like About Working for This Institution?
A run-down of the advantages of a role is not the same thing as why people like working in it – if they even like working in it at all. The interviewer is a part of the team, and they should be able to give you their personal thoughts on the place.
Asking these questions during the interview will not only tell you more about the role than any job posting, but they will help you finally decide if its right for you.
